Andrew Stretch's Reviews
The Jackbox Survey Scramble manages to take an entirely different approach to Jackbox silliness and create minigames where my biggest complaint is that they're too short. There are other minigames with larger complaints, but I just plan not to play them...
Super Mario Party Jamboree delivers a great Mario Party experience filled with nostalgia and quality of life improvements. Additional Planner and Koopathlon game modes offer a good reason to play the game solo.
Atlus has leveled up the Persona formula in every way. The world-spanning adventure of Metaphor: ReFantazio offers a diverse world to explore, deep and relatable stories to share with your party, an incredible combat system with unlimited possibilities of Archetype powers, and plenty of quality of life improvements to make sure you're spending more time playing the game and not wondering what to do next.
Echoes of Wisdom does a good job setting up Zelda with fun and creative powers and a vast and adorable world to save. Echoes add fun creativity to puzzle solving, though do also have a tendency to break the game.
Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a solid hybrid platformer. With floaty jumps for those new to the genre and deep references to the Disney of yesteryear, it's fun for the family, even if a bit shallow.
Frostpunk 2 takes everything that made the first game challenging and scales it up. Bigger cities, more mechanics, and larger expansions will push a player's ability to balance so many resources and the consequences of their own actions. Overcoming these will reward you with an immense sense of pride.
The Jackbox Naughty Pack contains three R-rated party games to share with the closest members of your groupchat. Fakin' It is a standout success if you're wanting to learn that much more about your friends, otherwise Dirty Drawful and Let Me Finish are great ways to share some crude chuckles with friends.
Astro Bot is a must-play title for anyone yearning for a classic 90s platformer and collect-a-thon. With vibrant levels and additional challenges, this game will be a blast for those of all skill levels. Fans of PlayStation since the PS1 will adore all of the references packed in.
Creatures of Ava is a wonderful adventure that wraps together an interesting story about humankind's view of nature, exploration of a beautiful alien world, and interesting creature taming mechanics. While I'd wish to continue exploring this game a major detriment is how you get locked out of half the game as you play through it.
Splodey does a good job of creating a unique twist on the Precision Platformer genre and, while I do think smaller individual challenges would be better, those who are into the genre will likely enjoy.
Animal Well is a game that promised platforming and puzzles and has managed to absolutely nail both in execution. Platforming fans will have an enjoyable time reaching the credits and will be content to set it down while puzzle gamers will be enamored by the depth that Animal Well has been able to achieve. You won't get more satisfied by a game solving puzzles like these.
Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes hits the right notes on paper but in practice, the story is poorly executed, battles are bland, recruitable characters are beyond forgettable, and the game itself is sluggish. The style and audio design do a good job, but not enough to save the overall experience.
The Rising Tide DLC does finally reveal the fate of Leviathan, but it's somewhat lackluster. Coupled with simple side-quests and a small region, this DLC doesn't add too much to FFXVI. The post-game content is well worth it for fans of FFXVI's combat. (Review Policy)
Children of the Sun is a unique FPS puzzle game that takes a dark approach to a fun logic puzzle of trajectories. While the formula does iterate as the game progresses it still left us wanting for more by the time credits rolled.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth carries on the torch from Remake and delivers another incredible experience. The world of FFVII comes alive as you venture across it with Cloud and his party. Watching the story play out with gorgeous graphics and fantastic acting elevates the entire experience. This is a must play for Final Fantasy fans.
With a story that follows predictable beats, mechanics that provide zero gameplay benefit, and murky visuals, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora delivers an extremely underwhelming experience. PC players be warned of many technical issues.
Super Mario RPG is a fun if not short RPG adventure with Mario and friends at the helm. It mixes together a colorful and interesting world with fun interactive RPG elements. Whether you're replaying this game from the SNES or experiencing it for the first time you should have fun.
World of Horror does an incredible job matching the 80s horror aesthetic in both look and gameplay. While the gameplay and some of the deeper mechanics are obtuse on first entry, through experimentation you'll find out just how deep this roguelike gets.
The Jackbox Party Pack 10 offers up mostly new games with one returning title. These games are some of Jackbox's best in a while and are sure to leave your party in stitches.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is not only another incredible entry into this franchise but the best one yet. Between improvements to traversal, an enthralling narrative, and a densely packed world, Insomniac has taken each element of their previous games and elevated it.